May 02, 2017

When I visited Greyhound Café Singapore recently, I was lunching with colleagues. Coincidentally, the first time I visited Greyhound Café Bangkok many years back, I was traveling with (ex)-colleagues! Lol!

Now and then. My colleagues has changed, dining city has changed, but I was hoping that Greyhound will still be as delicious as it was in my memory.

Hailed from Bangkok, just like Bangkok? Same same but different.

Greyhound started as a fashion label in Bangkok 18 years ago and has since expanded successfully into food business. Its presence is felt not only in homeland Thailand, but also in Hong Kong where there are several outlets. Of course, there is the Singapore outpost too.

The café arm is best known for its interpretation of Thai cuisine with a modern twist, served in a stylish setting with trendy, hipster vibes.

Singapore's Greyhound is located on the ground floor of upmarket Orchard Paragon shopping mall, and maintains the industrial modern minimal style designed by Thai leading interior designers.

Menu wise, expect to find Greyhound's tried and trusted signatures which has endeared well with diners.

I cannot say this without mentioning the Greyhound Famous Fried Chicken Wings ($14)! Legend has it, someone dropped an entire batch on the beach but decided to brush the sand off and continued nibbling! Really???

Prepared using a family recipe, the mid-joint wings are split into half and marinated in fish sauce before being deep-fried. Though the flavor could be more robust, it was still adequately tasty with juicy meat and crisp skin.

No doubt you will have a good sense of the prices by now. Not exactly like Bangkok. We paid for cutthroat rental and high manpower costs in Singapore.

But I guess one of the main draws of Greyhound is the fresh interpretation of some well-loved dishes which gives dining here a somewhat exciting edge. One such item is the Tom Yum Soup ($18) which features traditional Thai tom yum goong with a huge river prawn, mushrooms and ravioli.

We thought the ravioli is similar to wanton but filled with seafood paste lol! I did like the spicy sourness of the mildly-creamy broth. Its flavors could be more intense, but nevertheless sufficient for an appetizing, pleasing slurp.

As I tucked into the Fusilli with Seafood Tom Yum ($26), I felt sad. I took a bite of Thai-style Spicy Spaghetti with Seafood ($26), I felt sadder.

Why? Because both pasta were cooked a tad too soft for my liking, especially the fusilli. It was more disappointing for the spaghetti as the renditions I had in Bangkok was great. Now it felt like an anti-climax reunion with a long-distance lover.

My soft heart couldn't leave it at that and had to give it a second chance. Thankfully, it was a lot better on the return visit with perfectly al-dente strands. Freshness of the seafood was on point and seasoning was just right. The dish's spiciness was at a comfortable level without any need for water parade. Just be careful not to bite into the fresh peppercorns.

The classic freshly-cut, sweet Thai mango served with warm, soft glutinous rice drizzled with coconut cream still gets my vote anytime, while the parfait variant with a scoop of coconut serbet was very delightful too.

A selection of cakes such as Chocolate Banana Crepe Cake ($13), Fresh Coconut Crepe Cake ($13) and the moist and fluffy Classic Chocolate Cake ($9) are available as well.

To be fair, the food at Greyhound wasn't as bad as my friends said or what some online reviews had shared.

There were hits and misses, but the entire meal itself was still considered enjoyable (maybe also because I was in great company and conversation which served as a good distraction haha).

But would I return again? Probably not. I do not see any compelling reasons to. Besides, there is no lack of delectable Thai food in Singapore. Maybe not as hipster, but mostly at a less costly price.